Psychological Distress Among Chinese College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Attitude Toward Online Courses Matter?

Due to the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), taking online courses has become a “new normality” for college students. This study paid particular attention to the role of college students’ attitude toward online courses (ATOC) in shaping their psychological distress during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Participants were from a national panel survey that has been administered before and during the COVID-19 epidemic. Besides bivariate analysis, a multivariate regression model while adjusting for a lagged dependent variable (i.e., pre-COVID distress) was estimated to show the association between ATOC and during-COVID distress. We found that respondents from a disadvantaged family background (i.e., below-college parental education, below-average family economic condition, and rural residence) were more likely to have an “unsupportive” ATOC. Moreover, both bivariate and multivariate analyses confirmed that respondents with a “neutral” or “unsupportive” ATOC had greater during-COVID psychological distress, compared to their counterparts with a “supportive” ATOC. Given the persistent spread of the COVID-19 worldwide and the profound onsite-online transition in course delivery in higher education, students’ perceptions and evaluations of the massive online courses should be carefully considered and integrated into curriculum reforms in both present and post COVID-19 situations.

Abstract licence: CC BY

1. 9.

   Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China · 2020

2. 15.

   The Impact of COVID-19 on Anxiety in Chinese University Students · 2020

3. 21.

   Prevalence and Psychosocial Correlates of Mental Health Outcomes Among Chinese College Students During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic · 2020

4. 23.

   Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study · 2020

5. 26.

   Adolescents in Quarantine During COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Perceived Health Risk, Beliefs, Psychological Experiences and Expectations for the Future · 2020

6. 29.

   Factors Associated With Mental Health Disorders Among University Students in France Confined During the COVID-19 Pandemic · 2020

7. 38.

   Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Life of Higher Education Students: Global Survey Dataset from the First Wave · 2021

33 more references, whose wording the paper’s licence keeps private.

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.